Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of April 29

A morally pure Judaism without actual Jews

... As a scholar of American Judaism and a teacher of American college students for nearly half a century, I confess that I’ve been surprised to see slogans and tactics employed decades ago by antisemites and the New Left – and widely discredited since then — refitted and deployed in the wave of protests against “American complicity in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Last week, with memories of my family’s Passover seders still vivid, I watched video of the protest “seder in the streets” held in Brooklyn on the second night of the holiday – and was shocked, though not surprised, to see Israel denounced in the name of a definition of Jewish faith that we have not heard much of since its heyday in 19th century Europe and its use in the 20th century by the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. I found myself wishing that the students in my courses on Jewish thought could have seen the video too. I want them to understand that some of the current arguments made by young Jews against Zionism are in fact old claims about the nature of Judaism.

As is usual these days, Israel was denounced at the rally as inherently colonialist and apartheid; nothing new there, only more evidence that lovers of Zion have not done a good job in telling the story of how the State of Israel came to be. Too often the standard Palestinian narrative is met with silence or confusion; some knowledge of world history would be helpful too, lest Israel be denied legitimacy for mistakes and injustices all too common in the annals of nation-states. What was new at this “seder,” for me at least, was the charge that Zionism is literally a “false God,” that attachment to Israel is “worshipping a golden calf.” That is so, it was proclaimed, because Judaism is ethical monotheism and only that; Judaism is work for justice, full stop, and therefore any lapse from moral purity constitutes idolatry.

This seder/rally rightly emphasized the Haggadah’s call to join in the work of redemption – and wrongly omitted any reference to the actual people that, freed from Egyptian bondage, began a long trek to the Land of Israel. This seder’s Judaism cares immensely about the suffering of the Palestinian people (as I do), and even faults the Haggadah for insufficient attention to the “liberation and self-determination of the Egyptian people.” But it says not a word about the suffering of the thousands brutalized and murdered on Oct 7 or the welfare of the 7 million members of the Jewish people who live in Israel. It would not be going too far to say that, like many recent movements that have gained popularity among younger American Jews, this is a Judaism with no need of Jews. It has great appeal to Jews who have no need for Judaism as it has been practiced for millennia.

And a similar article from earlier: How dare you reinterpret our religion for us?

... The presentation at HDS is the latest in a series of pro-Palestinian programs that feature speakers like Raheb who seem to have a great deal to say about Jewish scripture, Jewish theology, and Jewish identity. Somehow, it has become acceptable for Raheb to dictate to Jewish people — the people who have read and interpreted the Torah for millenia — how to “decolonize” their own identities to suit his own political agenda. It is cultural appropriation par excellence.

The expectation that Jewish history and identity need to be adjusted to be acceptable to the current socio-political landscape disregards the endurance of Jewish traditions through 3,000 years of development, often in the face of extreme oppression, colonialist displacement, and ethnic cleansing. Never mind the fact that the Torah has already been frequently usurped and weaponized against the Jews by both Christians and Muslims, who reinterpret key Jewish texts in an attempt to harm Jews.

Let me be clear: You can’t tell Jewish people how to be Jewish. We don’t need non-Jewish academics to explain to us concepts central to our identity — such as the land of Israel, the people of Israel, or the return to Zion. We can figure them out ourselves. And, guess what? We have

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The audacity of Raheb to strip us of our theological and historical agency — an idea that would be unthinkable for any other minority group — is staggering. The “theologian” in question also champions the Khazar theory, which posits that modern Ashkenazi Jews are descendents of Turkic converts to Judaism, denying them of links to the land of Israel, notwithstanding large amounts of evidence to the contrary.

Consider the precedent Harvard is setting. Would it be acceptable to invite a speaker who claims that the descendants of English settlers are the “real” Indigenous peoples of North America, effectively erasing the historical claims of the First Nations? Or a speaker who claims that globally recognized cultural monuments were actually built by Europeans? The Divinity School has done the equivalent by hosting a speaker who peddles ahistorical, politically motivated conspiracy theories that marginalize Jews, all under the guise of academic discourse

UCLA cancels classes after violence erupts on campus over the war in Gaza (AP News)

Dueling groups of protesters clashed overnight at the University of California, Los Angeles, shoving, kicking and beating each other with sticks after pro-Israel demonstrators tried to pull down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment. Hours earlier, police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University, breaking up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school.

After a couple of hours of scuffles between demonstrators at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields slowly separated the groups and quelled the violence. The scene was calm as day broke.

UCLA canceled classes Wednesday and urged people to avoid the area where the fighting broke out. The school’s library won’t reopen until Monday and Royce Hall, which authorities said was vandalized, is closed through Friday. UCLA stationed law enforcement officers throughout campus.

Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices, in dark day for media (The Guardian)

Israeli authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, hours after a government vote to use new laws to close the satellite news network’s operations in the country.

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Israeli officials said the move was justified because Al Jazeera was a threat to national security. “The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” the country’s prime minister posted on social media after the unanimous cabinet vote.

A government statement said Israel’s communications minister had signed orders to act immediately to close al Jazeera’s offices in Israel, confiscate broadcast equipment, cut the channel off from cable and satellite companies and block its websites.

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Al Jazeera said the accusation that it threatened Israeli security was a “dangerous and ridiculous lie” that put its journalists at risk.

“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information,” the company said in a statement. “Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences.”

A pre-recorded “final report” listing the restrictions placed on the network by a reporter in Jerusalem was broadcast on the network after the ban came into effect.

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The Foreign Press Association, a NGO representing journalists working for international news organisations reporting from Israel, the West Bank and Gaza accused Israel of joining a “dubious club of authoritarian governments”.

Senior UN official says northern Gaza is now in 'full-blown famine' (NPR)

Cindy McCain, the American director of the U.N. World Food Program, became the most prominent international official so far to declare that trapped civilians in the most cut-off part of Gaza had gone over the brink into famine.

"It's horror," McCain told NBC's "Meet the Press" in an interview to air Sunday. "There is famine — full-blown famine — in the north, and it's moving its way south."

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The panel that serves as the internationally recognized monitor for food crises said in March that northern Gaza was on the brink of famine and likely to experience it in May. Since March, northern Gaza had not received anything like the aid needed to stave off famine, a U.S. Agency for International Development humanitarian official for Gaza told The Associated Press. The panel's next update will not come before this summer.

The USAID official said on-the-ground preparations for a new U.S.-led sea route were on track to bring in more food — including treatment for hundreds of thousands of starving children — by early or mid-May. That's when the American military expects to finish building a floating pier to receive the shipments.

Ramping up the delivery of aid on the planned U.S.-backed sea route will be gradual as aid groups test the distribution and security arrangements for relief workers, the USAID official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns accompanying the official's work on conflicts. They were some of the agency's first comments on the status of preparations for the Biden administration's $320 million Gaza pier project, for which USAID is helping coordinate on-the-ground security and distribution.

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At a factory in rural Georgia on Friday, USAID Administrator Samantha Power pointed to the food crises in Gaza and other parts of the world as she announced a $200 million investment aimed at increasing production of emergency nutritional paste for starving children under 5.

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Under pressure from the U.S. and others, Israeli officials in recent weeks have begun slowly reopening some border crossings for relief shipments.

But aid coming through the sea route, once it's operational, still will serve only a fraction — half a million people — of those who need help in Gaza. Aid organizations including USAID stress that getting more aid through border crossings is essential to staving off famine.

Children under 5 are among the first to die when wars, droughts or other disasters curtail food. Hospital officials in northern Gaza reported the first deaths from hunger in early March and said most of the dead were children.

Power said the U.N. has called for 400 metric tons of the nutritional paste "in light of the severe hunger that is pervading across Gaza right now, and the severe, acute humanitarian crisis." USAID expects to provide a quarter of that, she said.

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U.S. Central Command said in a statement Friday that offshore assembly of the floating pier has been temporarily paused due to high winds and sea swells, which caused unsafe conditions for soldiers. The partially built pier and the military vessels involved have gone to Israel's Port of Ashdod, where the work will continue.

A U.S. official said the high seas will delay the installation for several days, possibly until later next week. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operation details, said the pause could last longer if the bad weather continues because military personnel and divers have to get into the water for the final installation.

The struggles this week with the first aid delivery through a newly reopened land corridor into north Gaza underscored the uncertainty about security and the danger still facing relief workers. Israeli settlers blocked the convoy before it crossed Wednesday. Once inside Gaza, the convoy was commandeered by Hamas militants, before U.N. officials reclaimed it.

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Acute malnutrition rates [in Gaza] among children under 5 have surged from 1% before the war to 30% five months later, the USAID official said. The official called it the fastest such climb in hunger in recent history, more than in grave conflicts and food shortages in Somalia or South Sudan.

One of the few medical facilities still operating in northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan hospital, is besieged by parents bringing in thousands of children with malnutrition for treatment, the official said. Aid officials believe many more starving children remain unseen and in need, with families unable to bring them through fighting and checkpoints for care.

What’s Really Happening on College Campuses, According to Student Journalists (Politico)

Key aid crossing into Gaza closed after rocket attack kills Israeli soldiers (The Guardian)

One of the main crossings used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza was closed after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas killed three soldiers, the Israeli military said, with a reprisal strike on a house in Rafah reportedly killing at least three Palestinians.

Israel’s military said 10 projectiles were launched from Rafah in southern Gaza towards the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing. The crossing was closed soon after, but other crossings remained open.

The armed wing of Hamas said it fired rockets at an Israeli army base next to the crossing, but did not confirm where it fired them from. Hamas media quoted a source close to the group as saying the commercial crossing was not the target. Israel’s military said it believed Hamas was targeting soldiers massed on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible Rafah invasion.

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Since it reopened several months ago, the Kerem Shalom crossing has been one of the key routes for bringing aid into Gaza.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/1/colombia-to-cut-diplomatic-ties-with-israel-over-gaza-war-petro-says?traffic_source=rss

ICC urged to delay possible war crimes charges against Israel and Hamas - https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/apr/29/icc-possible-war-crimes-charges-israel-hamas-g7